A third of Ireland's 'top 20' law firms hit by cyber attacks in the past 12 months

A third of the country’s “top 20” law firms — and one in five of all firms — were the victims of cyber attacks on their IT systems in the past 12 months, a national survey of the profession has found.

The threat is one of the factors which has contributed to more than 80% of firms beefing up their information technology systems during 2015, according to the Smith & Williamson’s Survey of Irish Law Firms. Almost two in three firms are planning further IT investment in the next 12 months.

The authors quoted Rory O’Neill, an investigating accountant with the Law Society, as saying: “Solicitors are particularly valuable targets for cyber criminals due to the maintenance of substantial sums of monies in their client accounts.